This edgy, darkly humorous short story collection will take hold of your imagination and won't let go. Sharply tuned, haunting, and darkly humorous, these stories take readers from the country fair to the suburban home to the boy scout camping trip, flipping each stopping point on its head. Every story begins and ends with one voice, and each contains a mystery or turn of events that shocks, entertains, and frightens—and often all three. In the title story, rest area, a father chats with other drivers while he waits for his daughter at a rest stop. She went to the bathroom, and he's been waiting for her ever since, and now he's handing out her picture. Have you seen her? Are you sure you haven't seen her? A remarkable combination of unexpected tenderness, deep sensitivity, and a fascination with the darker side of domesticity, these tales of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations will echo in your head long after you close the pages. Rest area—Fox trot—The pool witch—The wheels on the bus go by—Spoonfed—Chatterbox—Michelle—Second helping—And mothers stepped over their sons—Honey well hung—Johnny Pumpkinseed—The man corn triptych—Correspondence of corpses—Off-season spirits—Poor man's mermaid—Bladder companion—A step off from fathering—Milking cherry—Rodeo inferno—It goes rickety